nettlesome [net-l-suhm]
adjective:
1 causing irritation, vexation, or annoyance
2 easily provoked or annoyed
Examples:
Reporting on a working group recently established to combat nettlesome beach fires causing burns and air pollution, Janet Stratford Collins said: "We’ve received over 200 emails. They fall into three categories, those who want beach fires to stay with no new regulations, those wanting to make beach fires safer, and those who want to ban them." (Dave Schwab, La Jolla Parks and Beaches discuss beach fires at Marine Street, The New York Times Magazine, October 20)
The mission marked the first time two commercial spacecraft have docked with each other in space and holds the promise of limiting the amount of orbital debris, a growing and nettlesome problem, as well as creating a new business opportunity for companies in space. (Christian Davenport, In historic first, an aging satellite is resurrected by another in a technology that could reduce junk in space, Washington Post, April 20)
Origin:
1766, from nettle + -some. (Online Etymology Dictionary)
